FOX Developing King of the Hill Revival

FOX is in the process of developing a King of the Hill revival. While the network’s animated mainstays like The Simpsons and Family Guy have always drawn more headlines, fellow animated sitcom King of the Hill also managed to carve out quite the legacy for itself on the network, albeit in quieter fashion. Created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, King of the Hill debuted in 1997, managing to stay on the air all the way until fall 2009. All in all, King of the Hill produced 259 episodes over a whopping 13 seasons.
For those unfamiliar, King of the Hill took place in the small town of Arlen, Texas, and centered on often beleaguered dad Hank Hill (voiced by co-creator Judge) and his family, which included wife Peggy (Kathy Najimy), son Bobby (Pamela Adlon), and Peggy’s wayward niece Luanne (the late Brittany Murphy). While things sometimes got silly,
King of the Hill stood apart from shows like the aforementioned Simpsons and Family Guy by presenting a much more realistic portrayal of everyday life and family difficulties.
While never a huge ratings hit, King of the Hill cultivated a loyal audience, which makes it not entirely surprising that FOX might want to bring it back. According to Deadline, FOX chairman Dana Walden revealed during today’s TCA festivities that the network is in early talks with Judge and Daniels about resurrecting the long-running comedy for a revival season.

While Walden indeed confirmed that talks have taken place, she made sure to stress that the conversations so far are of an “ exploratory ” nature, and that it’s “about finding time ” in Judge and Daniels’ busy schedule before more concrete movement on a potential revival could take place. On the other hand, Walden says that the duo is “ excited ” about the possibility of returning to Arlen and seeing what the Hill family are up to in today’s America.
At this point, many pop culture devotees are probably growing tired of all the announcements of old series being revived, instead of more new series getting a chance to debut. That said, The X-Files’ revival ended up working out really well for FOX, so it’s understandable that they’re continuing to look through their back catalog and see what might next be a good candidate for a second life.